


5 times Tony needed Peter + 1 time Peter needed Tony

by marin27



Series: Marin27's Starker Bingo 2019 [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Aged-Up Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - College/University, Blood and Injury, Budding Love, Established Relationship, Identity Porn, Implied/Referenced Torture, Love Confessions, M/M, Nightmares, Not Canon Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, Panic Attacks, Peter is 18 at the start, Secret Identity, Starker Bingo 2019, Tony Stark-centric, Tony is 16 and it's legal in Massachusetts, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 21:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19754146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marin27/pseuds/marin27
Summary: Tony is sixteen when he first meets Peter Parker—drop dead gorgeous—who is his MIT dorm roommate.This fic entails what happens over the course of the next few years and how it brings the two of them closer together.--For my Starker Bingo 2019 that's also ontumblr!Here's aRussian translation done by OceanDream





	5 times Tony needed Peter + 1 time Peter needed Tony

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Пять раз, когда Тони нуждался в Питере, и один раз, когда Питер нуждался в Тони](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21091190) by [Taracsacum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taracsacum/pseuds/Taracsacum)



> Just a disclaimer, Tony is 16 at the start of this fic, which is already the legal age of consent in Massachusetts, where MIT is.
> 
> However, Tony does do some underaged drinking here because the legal age for that is 20.
> 
> This is for my Starker Bingo 2019 'College AU'. 
> 
> There is some identity porn in this one because Peter is still Spider-Man and Tony is his own 'bodyguard', Iron Man.

**1.**

“Hey, man, need any help?” A voice pipes up from within the room, but Tony can’t see a thing because of the tower of boxes in his arms. His voice is strained as he mutters a, “Don’t worry, I got it.”

“Uh yeah—no.” The person says and Tony nearly careens backwards from the change in weight he is heaving, the mystery person taking two of the three boxes with ease. Tony winces as his back cracks, but he says, “Thanks.”

“No problem! Glad to be of help.” Tony stares. And stares. And doesn’t stop staring because the mystery person turns out to be this unbelievably gorgeous brunette with bright brown eyes and a sweet smile, looking akin to a puppy.

Tony just blinks. And gapes when the guy—who he presumes works out a lot because holy shit—holds the two boxes on one hand and takes the third from Tony’s arms with his free hand. He walks over to Tony’s twin sized bed and slowly lays it down on right next to the bed frame. When he gets back up, his hand is stretched out between the two of them. “Name’s Peter Parker. You must be my roommate.”

Tony thinks he must look stupid with his dumb braces, spotty skin and gaping mouth but he shoves his insecurities to the side for one moment, and puts on a friendly smile. He shakes Peter’s—extremely strong—hand, “Name’s Tony.”

“I hope we’ll be close roommates here, Tony, cause honestly I’m pretty sure I was lost for an hour just before I got to this dorm so—I need a friend.” Peter has a nice smile. Tony already knows being roommates with this gorgeous—and way out of his league older guy—is going to make his hormonal and secretly closeted life much harder than it already is.

But he takes in the sweet eyes and beaming smile and Tony thinks it can’t be too bad here in MIT.

**2.**

“Ugh! Why do I have to choose assholes? Always!” Tony screams into his pillow, one hand punching his mattress. He smiles—despite himself—when he hears Peter’s sweet laughter ringing out in their dorm.

“I swear, if I choose another guy who thinks they’re worth even a cent of my dad’s money, just slap me in the face and lock me somewhere so I don’t go out dating douche bags again.” Tony huffs, air blowing on the lock of hair in front of his face. In the corner of his eye, he can see Peter lift his head from his robotics ensemble, a fond grin adorning his features as he looks at Tony.

“Maybe you’re like Marlin or Nemo, too scared to get off the reef.” Tony gets up on his elbows, tilting his head.

“Maybe you’re just too scared to get out of your comfort zone, you know?” Peter suggests, shrugging before returning to his circuit board. Tony hums in contemplation.

Tony sits up and looks down at his hands, idly playing with his fingers. A scowl goes onto his face, something solemn and sad in his eyes as he thinks.

Sensing the silence, Peter looks up. Something soft graces his face as he takes Tony in—slumped over, frown on his lips and curled up like a small kid that needs comfort.

Peter knows that Tony is the type to get too much into his own head. “Hey.”

Tony doesn’t look up but he subtly nods. “Tony, look at me.”

He does this time, and Peter sighs at the shimmer of unshed tears in Tony’s eyes. Peter can already bet that Tony is repeating that stupid mantra in his head again, _‘Stark men are made of iron.’_ when he tries to shake off the emotion in his eyes.

Peter grits his teeth as he silently curses Howard.

“Tony, you have to know that Ty is an asshole. That you did nothing wrong, okay?” Tony sniffles, a weak sound that makes Peter’s face crumple. He puts the screwdriver and circuit board down onto his bed, getting off his mattress to walk over to Tony. He settles down next to his roommate.

“Ty is a dick, a suck up, a prick. I can call him all the names in the book because he destroyed your trust in him. You did absolutely nothing wrong.” Tony stopped frowning, but he still looks upset.

“You shouldn’t be mad at yourself, be mad at him.” Peter stares into Tony’s teary eyes. The younger teenager nods. Peter can only smile as he continues, “He doesn’t deserve you. You’re an amazing fish.”

Tony cracks up at that, even through the tears, and Peter relaxes a little bit. He pats Tony’s knee and gets off his bed, picking up his screwdriver again.

“Thanks, Pete. I really needed that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m only stating facts here.”

When a few moments pass, when Tony is staring at Peter’s concentrated face and focused eyes, he finally blurts out a question he’s been thinking about recently. “How about you?”

“What about me?”

“You know, don’t you have a fish you like?” Peter stops his movements, eyes glancing up to Tony. He secretly smiles to himself, a little sad, and he says, “Yeah. I do. I just want it to be the perfect time.”

Tony deflates a tiny bit. But he does give out a, “Well, good luck with whoever they are. They’ll be lucky to have you.”

Tony returns his attention to his half finished coding of JARVIS, not noticing the stare he’s getting from the across the room.

**3.**

The world is spinning. Lights seem to trail along his gaze, the bass of the music vibrating Tony from head to toe as his heart pounds deafeningly in his ears. He stumbles on his feet, spilling his seventh—or is it eighth?—cup of beer over its rim. He mumbles an apology, unable to steady his gaze to focus on whoever he spilled the drink onto.

He feels lost, and he’s pretty sure he dropped his phone somewhere after the second round of beer pong. He’s supposed to call Rhodey if there’s a problem, but Tony reasons getting drunk, unable to find his phone or being unable to recognise anyone is hardly a problem.

He’s supposed to be in his dorm, studying for his next exam, but Tony decided to take Ty’s offer on his party when he saw Peter getting too close to one of their schoolmates. Some blonde girl who seems to notice how well Peter fits into his sweaters.

Usually Tony can shrug off jealousy, but with Peter it’s different. Because he knows that Peter isn’t the type to have divided attention between people. He knows Peter is the type to dote on the person he loves. And the knowledge that it won’t be Tony, sort of breaks him.

He knows it’s selfish. It’s not like they have anything. He can fool himself with those midnight talks, movie nights and sweet smiles shared between them, but that illusion is easily shattered when Peter turns absolutely red when he’s around another girl.

But Tony doesn’t care. Not at all. He can deal with this. After all, he can distant himself from Peter if he wants to… right?

Tony finds himself in the middle of Ty’s house, somehow making it from his backyard to his living room without tripping more than once.

But it’s when he catches the number on the clock on the wall. Two in the morning.

Shit. How did time go so fast?

Tony has class tomorrow and a quiz in the afternoon. He sighs.

Suddenly, the floor seems to sway under his feet and Tony is pitching forward—moving too fast and the floor’s too close and shit—

“Tony!” A pair of strong arms wrap around his body, pulling him to a warm chest. Tony immediately knows who it is, from the manly scent of Old Spice enveloping his senses and the feeling of a worn out denim jacket under his fingertips. He lets go of his empty cup, feeling too weak to stand up.

“Peter,” He mumbles, unable to resist nuzzling into his warmth. Peter doesn’t seem to mind however, and he hoists Tony up to his legs. “Can you walk?”

“Probably.” Tony says under his breath, giggling to himself.

Peter lets Tony lean most of his weight onto his side, and he leads him to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind him, Peter gently settles Tony down onto the closed toilet seat.

Through blurry vision, Tony can see Peter put down his bag to take out a bottle of water. “Do you feel dizzy?”

“Lil’ bit. Maybe,” Tony says, reaching for the bottle as his throat itches with thirst. Peter goes down into a crouch, looking up at Tony. There’s a minute of silence while Tony drinks the water, with Peter watching him with worried eyes.

“Why are you here?” Peter asks, and Tony—wait, is that anger he’s hearing?

“Just wanted to go to a party. That’s all. I don’t get why you have to babysit me,” Tony grumbles, turning away. Peter grits his teeth, “You weren’t back at the dorm or at school, I was calling all night. Rhodey said you were going to a party but he didn’t know which—”

 _He called Rhodey? How dare he even_ —Tony almost crushes the plastic bottle under his hold.

“—and somehow tonight has to be the night when there’s four different parties going on! Which you shouldn’t even be at because you’re still sixteen! I had to haul ass and look all over campus for you and I just—”

“I didn’t ask you to! I never asked you to be my fucking shadow and I don’t need you giving me some dumb ass lecture I won’t even remember in the morning. So shut up, Parker.”

Peter stops, flinching. Tony breathes hard through his nose, and watches as his roommate bows his head. “I’m sorry, Tony. I shouldn’t have snapped.”

 _Fuck._ Tony huffs, feeling his chest nearly concave. Tony should be the one apologising, not Peter. “No. I should be the one saying sorry. But I’m still mad so I’m not going to.”

Peter’s brows furrow. “Mad? Why would you be mad?”

Tony sighs, not realising he let that slip out so easily. Damn alcohol.

“Why? Did I do something wrong? Tell me if I did, then I can try to fix it—”

“No.”

“Please, Tony, just tell me what’s going on.”

Tony clenches his fist, “Why do you want to know so badly, Parker?”

“Because I’m worried about you, okay? I want to know what’s going on because I can’t stand you like this, or being angry at me.”

Tony blinks.

“Worried… about me?”

“Yes! I thought I made that clear by practically tearing through the campus to look for you.”

Tony watches Peter, unsure.

“Why would you be worried about me? I’m sure Rhodey could’ve found me as well.”

Peter’s face scrunches up at that. “Because…”

He looks away, his jaw clenching as his eyes harden. “Because I like you.”

“What?”

“Because I like you, Tony Stark. I like you a lot. Like… too much, I think.”

Tony leans back, his eyes going wide. At that, Peter seem to backtrack, scared, “I hope this doesn’t change our friendship cause I really don’t want that to—”

Tony doesn’t let him finish his sentence, because he basically plopped himself into Peter’s lap and pressed his lips against his. Tony’s inexperienced, he knows, but it sends him a great joy when Peter doesn’t respond in anything but enthusiasm back. He pulls away far enough to speak, pressing his forehead against Peter’s, “I was mad because I was jealous you were talking to Cindy this morning.”

“So that’s why you avoided me during lunch.” Peter mumbles, tone almost amused. Tony lightly pinches his shoulder but Peter just laughs against his lips, leaning in again for another kiss.

**4.**

When he first receives the call, it’s like a punch to the gut—with a metal fist. He calls in sick for his class and cries in his bed, body convulsing in agony and pain. He can’t even see the floor clearly through his tears, or the slats of his window, showing the gloomy grey of the stormy sky. Quite ironic.

The door creaks open—two hours earlier than when Peter’s class would end—and the smell of hot Chinese takeout is welcomed. He only looks at Peter when the door closes.

He sits up, and the sight of his red-rimmed eyes and snotty nose is enough for Peter to quickly put down the food and rush into Tony’s awaiting arms. The smell of Peter and his warmth sends Tony into another crying spell, his scrawny body curling into Peter’s much sturdier form.

“Shh, hey, I got you. I got you,” Peter murmurs into Tony’s neck, hands rubbing his shivering muscles. Tony can’t help the wails escaping his mouth.

He should’ve said something. Should’ve said to his dad he loves him even with all the shit he’s put him through, should’ve told his mom that he was dating the best person he’s ever met and he’s utterly in love with him, he could’ve tried harder for them, could’ve been better in their eyes. _Should’ve. Could’ve_. They all don’t matter, do they? Now that their cold bodies are in a morgue somewhere, getting prepped for the funeral.

Tony can taste the saltiness of his tears, probably the only thing he’s tasted other than the bitterness that stems from his aching heart. Tony would usually say this is all melodramatic, that his thoughts are depressed prose. But the logical part of him doesn’t even care anymore.

He needs to let it out somewhere, all the repressed anger and sadness that reverberates through his body. And it’s only because of Peter—from his forlorn expression back at that party—that he stops himself from drinking his sorrows. Damn the age of drinking. Who cares if he’s three years under twenty? He should have the right to numb himself.

It’s the softness Peter exudes that prevents Tony from doing anything rash. He can handle Rhodey’s disapproval, Howard’s anger and Maria’s hidden hurt, but he can’t handle Peter’s open trust and love, can’t handle disappointing him or—even worse—still forgiving him even when he’s done shitty things Peter should be mad at. And so Tony tries.

For Peter.

**5.**

It’s two months in after he’s returned being kidnapped. Two months since the birth of Iron Man. Two months since Tony left his own hell.

He’s having the routinely nightmares. Flashes of drowning, phantom shocks of electricity running through him as his car battery dips into the nasty water, the sweltering heat as he sits in front of the furnace. It’s all the same.

Until it isn’t.

His breath hitched when he first sees Peter—head covered by another rag. He knows it’s Peter when he sees him because of the tattered pajamas Tony got him for Christmas. Tony is shaking when the men speaking in Arabic start to approach Peter, ends of jumper cables in their hands. He’s screaming when he realises those jumper cables are connected to his chest, the cavity hooked onto this stupid car battery.

The men start laughing as they hold Tony down, turning the voltage up on his car battery and Tony—Tony has to watch through hoarse screams and blurry tears as Peter gets fried by electricity because of him—because of his stupid injury—stupid, stupid, stupid Stark— _Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark or are you going to do something about it?_

He can’t. He can’t do anything about it, because he’s watching the love of his life convulse, hands and feet immobile as if some invisible force is making him watch this, cries ripped out of him as he hears the constant drone of “ _Tony! Save me, Tony! God, save me Tony—please! It hurts! Tony!—_

“Tony!”

Tony jolts up in his bed, beads of sweat rolling down, mixing with his tears. He can barely see in the dark, but the figure in front of him leans over to pull the switch under his lamp. The room fills with a soft glow and Tony sees—

“ _Peter_ ,” he whimpers, voice catching on his name. Peter has a heavy look of concern, brows furrowed and beautiful eyes wide as he takes Tony in. Tony can’t do anything but lunge into Peter’s big arms, his body bone tired, his brain fried and chest crumpling within itself. He’s sobbing, but he barely notices anything but the comforting caresses his body needs.

He can hear the echoes of Peter’s horrified, violent screams playing on loop in his head, but the warmth he feels as Peter mutters his ‘I’m here’s chases the edge away. He doesn’t even realise he’s babbling until Peter carries him onto his lap, head burrowing into Tony’s neck as he listens intently to Tony’s recollection of his nightmare.

Tony wishes he wasn’t broken. He wishes he’s the person before the Afghan cave.

“You’re not broken.” Tony isn’t even mad at himself for saying it out loud, he’s just… tired.

“I am, Pete. I’m nothing but a few shattered pieces, half of them left in that cave.”

“I’m so fucking scared.”

“Baby, what are you scared about?” Tony pulls away, head bowing down. Peter is sweet, taking both his clammy hands to his lips, thumbs rubbing over the callouses he gained from his three month stay at the cave.

“That once you realise how much of a mess I am, that I can’t give you what you want any more… you’ll leave me.”

“ _Baby_ ,” Peter’s voice cracks. His hands are frantic to reach for Tony’s face, dragging away the tracks of tears with gentleness Tony knows he doesn’t deserve.

“ _Darling_ , no. I won’t leave you. Not for that. I’ll never leave you.” Peter presses a chaste kiss on Tony’s nose, nuzzling it, “You have a few cracks here and there, but you’re not broken. You’re still the same strong, resilient, stubborn as all hell firecracker that I know. The same person I fell in love with two years ago.”

Tony whines, throat burning as more tears spring up.

“I know things seem shitty now. And it will take a while to even take a step closer to healing. But please, please, _please_ never forget—” Peter presses his forehead against Tony’s, staring deep into those haunted brown eyes, “—that I’m with you every step of the way. I will try my damned hardest to never let you down.”

Peter intertwine his fingers with Tony’s, the pair of blue promise rings glinting under the golden lamp.

“I’ll never leave you, Tony. I love you so much and it hurts me to see you like this.” Tony feels the gaping hole in his chest widen, and it’s not because of the arc reactor. “So I want to see you get better.”

Peter cradles his face with one hand and presses his lips to Tony’s hairline, feeling tears well up in his own eyes.

“Promise me that if you ever need anything at all, you can call me, okay? I’m here for you.” Tony gives another heart-wrenching sob as he nods vigorously, accepting Peter’s loving embrace as if second nature.

“I know how you don’t like relying on others for help but please, remember you have me, Rhodey, Jarvis and Anna. You have Aunt May who also adore you. So don’t be afraid to ask for help. We’re all here for you.”

“We all love you, Tony.”

**\+ 1**

Tony knows he shouldn’t be too upset, that not all of the times he calls for Peter, he’d zip right next to his side in a moment. He’s not dumb.

But it does hurt when his boyfriend skips on bringing him to his therapy sessions for three weeks at this point, cancelling at least three lunch dates already.

He gets it. That Peter still has another year in MIT and needs to balance working and school while also emotionally supporting Tony. Tony—who’s a billionaire, a hero with a secret identity (something he hides from Peter) and graduated summa cum laude a year early—knows that Peter is struggling. He tries to hide it but the bags under his eyes and constant zoning out is a sign Peter is sacrificing too much sleep for other things.

Makes Tony feel ever guilty for already dragging him into his own bullshit.

But the past month, Peter has been… estranged. Tony is hurt, of course, and tries to take in stride. But every time he gets a late minute date cancellation, or a sad excuse of an apology after waiting for two hours on the side of the street, Tony falters.

But hey, it’s fine. All should be okay once he clears it up with Peter. Right?

He goes onto Peter’s apartment floor (Tony offered to pay for a lease until Peter graduates, which he surprisingly easily agrees to. Peter says he can’t pay for both the dorm and tuition anymore, and that Tony is a godsend.) and walks to the end of the hall. The first thing he’s going to ask Peter is why he’s basically been MIA for the past two days—not answering any calls or texts without any reason. Next thing he’s going to do is kiss him stupid because Tony has to admit he’s been a little worried—

Tony freezes.

There’s a tiny streak of blood where the door meets the locking mechanism. A crimson handprint around the doorknob.

 _Peter_.

Tony takes the small metal tube from the inside of his jacket, a mini flash bomb. It’s non lethal but if things go awry, it’d give him enough time to escape. Tony doesn’t have his suit with him—why would he? He’s visiting Peter—which he silently curses to himself about.

The door creaks open easily, unlocked and barely open. Tony can feel something weighing heavy in the pit of his stomach when he takes a step into Peter’s apartment. The faint smell of blood enters his nostrils, and Tony grits his teeth, worry rising in him.

He takes a look around the apartment. Things are knocked over, photo frames and a vase shattered on the floor, and there is a few drops of blood leading the way into the living room. He holds the flash bomb in his hand, eyes scouring the area.

He takes a couple of more steps into the apartment and his gaze falls to the floor. A pair of red shoes with blue pants greet him. He stops. He recognises those colours.

It’s the same colours he sees when he turns on the news channel, reporting about the web-slinging vigilante. Spider-Man.

What is he doing here?

Tony moves in closer until he can see the head of Spider-Man. Despite the blood matting it, Tony can recognise that familiar mop of brown curls anywhere.

“Shit, Peter!” Tony pockets the weapon and goes onto his knees next to the unresponsive body. He places a hand on his back, realising with a flood of relief he’s still breathing.

“Pete! Say something if you can hear me.” Peter doesn’t respond at all.

Just when Tony is about to screw it all and call for back-up, Peter murmurs something under his breath. Tony leans down to hear it better.

“Tony?” he can barely hear Peter, raspy and slightly wheezy. The younger teen sags, looking over Peter’s body. He frowns when he sees a smear of blood next to his torso. Tony, with all the gentleness he can muster, he slips his hands under Peter’s thigh and shoulder, turning him over to his side. He lets out a gasp at the sight of the pool of blood under him.

“Shit, Pete. We gotta do something about the wound.”

A hand rests on his knee—which Tony tries hard not to think about how it leaves a blood stain because, shit that’s a lot of blood and Tony can afford to go into a panic attack now—and Peter mumbles, “My… healing factor should’ve… closed the wound.”

Tony furrows his brows but he can’t question it now, he’s more keen on taking care of his very injured boyfriend who—holy shit, he’s Spider-Man and that means he’s been Spider-Man ever since he was sixteen and he’s been hiding it from Tony—needs professional medical attention. But when he thinks over the fact he just said ‘healing factor’, Tony decides that Peter wouldn’t appreciate being placed into a hospital, a place that is required to keep his blood.

“I’m guessing no hospital?” Peter slowly nods his head, a shuddering breath rattling his chest as he exhales.

“I think… I’m blacking out.” Tony’s eyes go wide and he starts to panic when the hand on his knee goes lax.

**

When Peter comes to, he can feel a tightness around his torso and an ache in his arm—right where Scorpion rammed into, sending him flying into a broken sign that has a hazardous jagged edge, hence the wound.

He can also feel soft lips on his knuckles and a pair of shaking hands holding onto his hand tightly. He cracks open an eye, to see Tony leaning into his hand, eyes screwed, a deep set of worry in the tension of his shoulders.

When he tenses his fingers, Tony’s eyes fly open and he’s greeted by the most frenzied look he’s ever seen on Tony. The first thing that comes out of his mouth is, “You look handsome in that shirt.”

Peter winces at the croakiness of his voice, but he flinches at the sight of Tony’s face hardening.

“When were you going to tell me you’re Spider-Man?” Peter doesn’t respond. Tony’s eye twitches.

“Is it when you’re dead in a ditch? When you’re bleeding out in an alleyway? When you get stung by Scorpion? Tell me, Pete, cause I’m really wracking my brain here.”

Peter’s eyes go to the ceiling, unable to look at Tony’s anger.

“I get that you’re mad but—” Peter closes his eyes, the memory playing in his head. The way Scorpion spat his name—his _real_ name—and threatened with so much resentment.

“You weren’t there and I know—I know that you hate not knowing things but I have to keep you out of this, Tony.”

The silence that ensues makes Peter thinks the worst.

 _“Kept out of this? Are you fucking kidding me, Parker?”_ Tony spits. Peter flinches again, eyes burning.

“Tony—”

“No, Peter, you do not shut me out like this. I was there for you when Ben died, and you were there for me when I had so much shit going on. You can’t just push me just when you need it the most, especially because you told me that you’d be there for me if I needed you. Why can I be there for _you_? Why would you leave me out of this—”

Peter bolts up in seat, eyes wide and teary as he cries out, “Because I have to protect you, Tony! This is different! I fought Scorpion and—do you know what he did? He knew me, Tony! He knew my name and he knew you and I can’t—” Peter whimpers, running his hand over his eyes. “—handle that! I can’t even think of that! How do you expect me to? To know the love of my life is in danger just because he’s dating me. I can’t—I can’t lose you again.”

Tony blinks, watching as hot tears roll down Peter’s face. And for once in his life, Tony is hit with the realisation of why Peter is always there for him. Why Peter always has his back, ready to be at his beck and call and sacrificing all his other needs to keep Tony happy.

Because of the creature inside him, growling protectively, growing in size the more he hears Peter cry. It’s the feeling that stems from his unconditional love for the older superhero. Tony wants to protect him—he has an urge. He needs to be the one taking care of Peter when he’s down.

“Pete. Look at me.” Tony takes his chin in his fingers, something possessive glinting in his eye as he stares at those wet cheeks. Peter moans pitifully, face scrunching up in anguish as he looks up at Tony.

“Listen to me carefully. I know you. And I’ve heard countless stories of Spider-Man. And I know that you’ll never let this go. You won’t stop until he’s gone. But how can you do that? When you’re hurt?”

Tony slides his hand from his chin to his cheek, caressing the damp skin. “I can’t stop you. I know that. But I can stop him.”

Peter’s brows furrow. Tony takes out his holographic phone, a prototype and one of its kind. He taps the screen a couple of types before placing it on Peter’s lap.

A small hologram of a suit comes up. Sleek, metal and humanoid.

“Iron Man,” Peter whispers, before his eyes go wide and he looks over at Tony. “You’re—”

“The one and only, sweetheart,” Tony gives a small smirk. Peter stares at the hologram, muttering, “But that doesn’t mean you’ll fight him.”

Tony resists the urge to roll his eyes, only sighing. “If you can take him on, I think it’s only fair I get an equal chance. Fair game.”

Peter frowns. “But—”

Tony cuts in quickly, “I know that you’re worried. But for all that is holy, listen to me on this. You’re more experienced, I get that. But I have an arsenal of weapons and armour. What can Scorpion do? Sting me? How can he if I made the armour ten times tougher than my original suit, which somehow survived a crash landing into a desert.”

“ _That’s_ how you escaped?”

“Yup. The point is, I can take him down. I can bring him in. And don’t you dare say no, because he just nearly killed my boyfriend and I’m ready to blast a hole through his suit.”

Peter still looks skeptical. Tony is ready to launch into another tangent of the pros and cons of going against Scorpion, when Peter says, “Okay. I’ll let you do it. But—”

Tony listens with rapt attention as Peter gets all serious. “—you have to wait until I’m done healing. And then we go together. Can you promise me that, Tony? Because I don’t think I can handle the thought of you out there, all alone.”

Tony hesitates, but he sees the utmost fear in his face, all laid out there for him to see. Tony can’t help but soften and nods. Peter has a small smile tugging at his lips, “You really killed Obadiah and those weapon dealers in Gulmira?”

Tony chuckles lowly, “You don’t even know the half of it, sweetheart.”

Peter reaches for Tony’s hands, brings them to his split lips, and mumbles, “Maybe I do need your help. Could use a partner.”

Amusement dances in Tony’s eyes. “In crime or life?”

Peter gapes for one good second. “Both?” he asks meekly, as if worried of what Tony would think. 

Tony grins. “Not anytime soon but yeah. Of course.”

With Peter stretched across the blanket, his head pops up, curls in a mess and Tony can't help but press a kiss to his forehead, saying against his skin, “I love you, Peter Parker. And I don’t think I’ll be able to let you go anytime soon.”

Peter beams, a smile that never fails to make Tony’s heart burst. Tony nods once, as if reassuring, before he gets an armful of Peter, who starts laying soft kisses all over his face in a flurry. “God, I love you too, Tony Stark.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you think! I love all sorts of feedback.  
> Say hi on my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/noncommited-writer)!


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